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Comment by PotatoPancakes | Hacker News Reader

If you want to be "exciting" (the opposite of boring) you'll always feel like you aren't living up to your potential; just like how power lifters always think their muscles are small and anorexic instagram models don't think they're skinny enough. Balance is much more rewarding.

Do good work, work that pays, that you're good at, that you can be proud of. Then go home. Switch off, and enjoy your hobbies. Learn an instrument, get good at cooking exotic foods, and find a workout routine you enjoy.

If you want to indulge your big ideas, read voraciously, and code up side-projects. Write a blog, or a book, or something like that. But don't try to make money from it. Betting your livelihood on your ideas puts too much pressure on, and you won't be happy. Most entrepreneurs aren't happy, not even the wealthy ones.

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Really? Most of the entrepreneurs I've met have had to do a lot of work, but none of them (this is my personal experience) regret striking out on their own.

Advocating for a resigned alienation from one's work is advocating for living one's life for other people.

I don't buy it.

It's not that they regret starting their businesses, it's that it consumes them and their life outside of work. They have no work-life balance. Their work may be rewarding and satisfying, but they aren't living happy lives.

This is what I've observed, anyway.

Also, "Advocating for a resigned alienation from one's work is advocating for living one's life for other people." I agree with that. I'm not advocating for resigned alienation. That's a very extreme interpretation of what I wrote.

I recommend finding a good work-life balance. Good work is a part of that. Working hard a good job with good coworkers is very rewarding. But putting all your eggs in the basket of your job is not.

agree, never seen entrepreneurs regret getting into business. If not entrepreneurs, at least what is called a businessman in India, are fine at the end of the day. They get a decent amount of support from family to run their business. They achieve a decent lifestyle despite working 12+ hours. Many times, businesses are taken over by the next generation also.

>but none of them (this is my personal experience) regret striking out on their own.

This is like having children: nobody would say they regret it even if they do and when pressed they will rationalize with a mental gymnastic the flexibility of which would be a yogi to shame.

> Do good work, work that pays, that you're good at, that you can be proud of. Then go home. Switch off...

Do good work. But if not switch off, and if you are young, it might be better to get another boring job. There is so much distraction, huge marketing machines pumping out ads manipulating our psyche and FOMO inducing content on Instagram. People could easily focus on a second job and be forced to avoid all this.

I wonder if there are software engineers doing 2 boring jobs.

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